Alignment, staffing and culture are often more critical than software and apps
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It isn't clear whether Vietnam is more of a crouching tiger or a hidden dragon, but it seems obvious that it is well on its way to becoming an offshore power. On the heels of Intel's decision ... More >
Practically right after we hit the "submit" button on our post about the increasingly diverse demands faced by today's CIOs, we saw an article on Australian IT about CIOs who leave their companie... More >
Want to grow your small business? Growing your technology savvy is a good place to start, according to a survey of mid-size companies conducted by tech services firm CDW. The majority of the 152 re... More >
CIOs sometimes get knocked for the disappointing success rate of IT projects . Yet at least part of the problem may not be under their control, according to an article on silicon.com . It hi... More >
While finding qualified IT personnel is no picnic in any industry these days, it's apparently an especially arduous task for financial services firms. Half of such companies that responded t... More >
Back in May, we blogged about a New York Times article that highlighted interesting real-world applications of business intelligence like a Virginia police department's analysis of crime reports th... More >
We are apparently closer to finding out if what a Gartner analyst calls "a big bet for SAP" will pay off. Thus far details on the product have been vague . Here's what we do know, thanks to... More >
Back in June, we blogged about the plans of a couple of Indian outsourcing firms, including Wipro, to step up their hiring of American workers in the U.S. Mentioned in that blog was Wipro's intent ... More >
Just after we blogged about a recent Websense survey of European SMBs concerning their approach to security, we found a CNNMoney report detailing the results of a similar survey of American SMBs.... More >
Coming off a period of rancorous debate over the increasingly controversial H-1B visa program , Indian outsourcing firms are trying to counteract what they see as a negative outlook on offshoring. &... More >
Poor Wal-Mart. The retailer just can't seem to master the whole Web 2.0 thing. (Though to be fair, the company is far from the only one.) Still stinging from the negative publicity fallout of ... More >
So you're a CIO planning to revamp your resume. Sure, it's nice to have an MBA, but most companies also want candidates with hands-on management experience. In particular, points out Informat... More >
When it comes to security, IT managers at European SMBs are quick to blame workers for problems, according to a recent survey by vendor Websense. Yet the managers show little willingness to enforce I... More >
While security is always a key consideration in outsourcing efforts, it takes on added importance in the Defense Intelligence Agency's decision to hire private contractors to perform up to $1 bill... More >
Despite their significant investments in CRM technologies , banks don't seem to have particularly close relationships with their customers. According to an IBM survey released late last year,... More >
Service-oriented architecture (SOA) is being touted by some folks as the biggest sea change to hit IT since the client-server environment. While this is open for debate, there appears to be li... More >
So what to make of the Association of Executive Search Consultant (AESC) report that found that the number of searches for tech executives fell more than any other professional sector in 2007's secon... More >
We've blogged before about Apple's potential ability to win over SMBs . Indeed, some experts think that recent revamps of its iMacs and the forthcoming Leopard operating system could position App... More >
Just about every major software application suffers from a period of widespread user dissatisfaction. Heck, the phenomenon is so common that Gartner even has a name for it: the trough of disillusio... More >
As concerns grow over H-1B visas, which companies use to employ skilled foreign workers, some experts -- including H-1B opponent Ron Hira -- have suggested that a revamp of the country's process for ... More >
While SMBs and e-commerce would seem to be a fairly natural fit, due to the Internet's ability to level the playing field between small and large businesses, fraud fears may be keeping many SMBs off... More >
As North American companies' demand for outsourcing wanes, Indian providers are seeking new markets elsewhere, in Europe , in Asia and, perhaps most interesting, in India. Indian providers ... More >
In a recent blog post , I made a number of obvious points about the Wikipedia editing scandal. To summarize, a graduate student created a cool application that revealed a fact that can't have surpr... More >
While outsourcing has become the rule rather than the exception in large enterprises, the opposite is true for SMBs. As we've blogged before , relatively few SMBs have tried outsourcing; rese... More >
Like many folks, I've gotten store receipts with a note and accompanying URL inviting me to take an online survey. These usually offer some type of a small incentive for my trouble, such as entering ... More >
Midway through 2007, it appears the market for outsourcing is heating up in just about every corner of the world other than the U.S . According to sourcing advisory firm TPI, the value of new... More >
So your CRM implementation hasn't turned out as planned? If you are looking for someone to blame, you might try gazing into a mirror. Though he doesn't put it that bluntly, that's the message ... More >
There's good news, and not-so-good news, for Microsoft in a recent Info-Tech report http://www.prweb.com/releases/2007/08/prweb546793.htm about companies' strategies for implementing the software ... More >
When we've mentioned banks here in the past, it's been about their activities as consumers of outsourcing services, including their apparent reticence in working with offshore providers . A r... More >
The love/hate relationship some of us IT Business Edge staffers have with Wikipedia has generally veered toward hate -- or at least discomfort. After an incident earlier this summer in which... More >
Despite being saddled with the stigma of being "old technology," the mainframe keeps on keeping on. Buoyed by four quarters of sales growth, mainframe king IBM has launched several initiatives design... More >
As technology becomes more central to the operations of businesses of all sizes, many SMBs no doubt find themselves grappling with the question of bringing an executive on board to help run the tech ... More >
If ever there was an industry that must do more with less, it's the supermarket business. As IHL Consulting President Greg Buzek told us earlier this summer in an IT Business Edge interview W... More >
Though founding a start-up will likely never be easy, it is becoming a whole lot simpler -- or at least cheaper -- thanks to an interesting mix of market forces, including the falling price of commod... More >
I'm no Emily Post, but I am thinking of writing a book called "Online Etiquette: Rule for Folks Who (Theoretically) Should Know Better." With the number of people who need to read it on a steep growt... More >
There's nothing like a little retrospection to help put decisions in perspective -- and hopefully, to aid in future decisions. That's the primary takeaway from an interesting Computerworld Au... More >
Though few folks can agree on a definition of Web 2.0, most enterprise developers seem to think it involves some type of social networking. While social networking tools can help streamline communica... More >
We've blogged before about "rogues," employees who bring their favorite consumer tech tools to the office -- without IT's approval -- because they feel such technologies help them work more product... More >
Several major Indian outsourcing firms turned in lackluster financial performances in the first half of 2007, thanks largely to the rupee's gain against a weak dollar. But the strong rupee, coupled... More >
Despite IBM CEO Sam Palmisano's vow to make SMBs the company's the largest customer segment within five years, IBM sales partners seem less than satisfied with the company. According to a C... More >
So will Pulse, the new social networking site from Plaxo -- known primarily for its e-mail contact management service -- be the end-all-be-all of social nets? Or just another entry in a long and incr... More >
We hear a lot about the need for white-collar management types to tweak their skills to keep up with the changing needs of companies competing in a global economy. For example, a different man... More >
There's an inverse relationship between the degree of bipartisan warmth in Congress and the level of controversy in legislative proposals. Thus the recent America Competes Act -- with its "war... More >
Many SMBs pride themselves on enjoying close relationships with their customers. Based on the old "if it ain't broke, don't fix it" saw, they are sometimes reluctant to invest in the kinds of custome... More >
Following up on our post from yesterday about the decisions of two British retailers to eliminate CIO positions at their companies , we ran across an item on Government Executive.com that relates ... More >
In a recent blog post, we noted that the outsourcing industry is beginning to look a lot like the United Nations , with countries around the globe positioning themselves as alternatives to offshore ... More >
Turns out that our blog post about the growing list of providers offering software-as-a-service security solutions for SMBs left out at least one prominent contender: Trend Micro. The compan... More >
Though two cases hardly amount to a trend, recent decisions by two British retail chains to downplay the role of IT management may send shivers down the spines of at least a few CIOs. Depart... More >
We've blogged before about the impact that retiring Baby Boomers could have on the workforce. As a recent Detroit News article notes, 25 percent of the U.S. workforce will reach retirement age in... More >
While choice is generally a good thing, it becomes less positive when folks are faced with too many choices. That may be the case with the rapidly proliferating data backup options for SMBs. T... More >
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